FOXBORO -- With three-quarters of the regular-season in the books, there’s little debate as to who the most impactful Patriots’ rookie of 2011 has been: offensive lineman Nate Solder wins the honor almost by default.

The 6-foot-9, 315-pound offensive lineman out of Colorado (the 17th overall pick in the draft last spring) has played in all 12 games and made nine starts in the first year in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s been on the field far more than any other member of New England’s rookie class -- Solder has 601 snaps, while running back Stevan Ridley is second with just 105 total snaps.

While the heavy workload is a sign of confidence the team has in the 23-year-old, it’s been his versatility that’s served as the hallmark of Solder’s rookie season. Most of the offensive linemen who compiled extensive rookie resumes with the Patriots -- like Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen, both of whom started the majority of games in their first year in the league -- were plug-and-play guys. Solder, however, has been spread out across the line. He’s played both left and right tackle, as well as tight end, and even worked on special teams.

That’s a lot to ask of any player, particularly a rookie who did not have the benefit of the offseason programs to get him ready for camp because of the lockout. Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged Wednesday that Solder has been asked to do a lot in his first season in the league, maybe more than a lot of rookie offensive linemen. Calling him a “smart kid,” Belichick praised Solder as someone who, “works very hard.”

“Nate has done a lot for us this year -- he’s been thrown into a lot of different situations,” Belichick said. “I think to a degree, that’s been challenging but again, Nate is a smart kid. He works very hard, he has a good understanding, he has a good football background, he understands concepts well; it’s not just memorizing what he does, but he understands what the people around him are doing. We’ve asked him to do a lot.”

“He’s done a great job of handling everything we’ve asked him to do, all the responsibilities,” veteran offensive lineman Brian Waters said of Solder. “I think if you asked him himself, he’d probably say he has to get better in certain areas, but I think he’s done a great job handling all his responsibilities this year. I think he’s done that, and you can see that the team trusts him a lot, and that’s the reason why he’s been able to do a lot of different things.”

It says a lot about Solder that the team felt OK letting tight end Dan Gronkowski go -- Solder’s versatility has allowed him to serve as an extra tight end on several occasions throughout the course of the season. In addition, they felt confident enough in him to flip him from one side to the other without hesitation, instead of going out and picking up a veteran free agent to try and fill that spot.

“He’s worked hard to do the things we’ve asked him to do,” Belichick said, “and he has a lot of flexibility as an athlete and as a person.”

While Solder has shown plenty of the same ability flashed by Mankins and Koppen when they were rookies, Solder’s relatively brief professional career has mirrored that of Sebastian Vollmer, who stepped in for left tackle Matt Light as a rookie in 2009 when Light went down with a knee injury. When Light returned, they felt good enough about Vollmer to flip him to the right side.

This season, when Vollmer was unable to open the season because of a back injury, Solder started the regular-season opener against the Dolphins as a rookie. While he’s spent most of the year spelling Vollmer, who has been dogged by back and foot injuries, he’s also worked on the left, as well as at tight end.

“We flipped him back and forth, and that’s not an easy thing to do,” Belichick said. “We tried doing that with Light his rookie year and that didn’t work out very well. You never know how that’s going to go. Matt has had a tremendous career at left tackle, but the flipping him back and forth probably wasn’t the best thing to do for Matt to start out with, whereas Nate has handled it very well. Vollmer handled it; it wasn’t a big problem for Sebastian.

“Some guys, they can do it; some guys, they don’t do it as well and they’re still very good players at what they do. I think we saw it with Nate pretty early.”

As a blocker, there are times where Solder has looked dominant, and there are times where he has struggled, and looked, well ... like the rookie that he is. That mixed bag was on display Sunday against Indianapolis pass rusher Robert Mathis. There were times where he looked good, and there were times when he had problems against a veteran like Mathis. (PFF says Solder has allowed one sack, three quarterback hits and 18 quarterback pressures over the course of the season.)

Analyst Sam Monson of PFF says there have been some inconsistencies in Solder’s game as a rookie, but that could be in part to being used at multiple spots.

“He’s had very good games -- Week 2 against San Diego, he was near flawless -- and he’s had some pretty bad ones. Against the Colts he allowed lots of pressure, same against Philadelphia, and earlier in the year against Buffalo,” wrote Monson in an e-mail to WEEI.com. “I’m sure part of it is being used in multiple places rather than just being allowed to get comfortable in one spot. He’s played 601 snaps this year, 481 of which have come at right tackle, but then he’s split 107 snaps at various tight end spots, and played 13 snaps at left tackle.

“You can definitely see potential in him, and he does have many decent games. But at the moment, all of his negative grade is comprised of four poor games on the season,” Monson added. “If he can get more comfortable and iron out the bumps in the road, he could be a good player.”